Velen
Prophet Velen is a level ?? quest giver located in the Vault of Lights in the draenei capital at the Exodar. For a brief period, after defeating Sironas, Velen (along with almost every other quest NPC in the Azuremyst Isles) will appear at Blood Watch. Curiously, he has draenei-blue skin instead of the alabaster white described in Rise of the Horde. He is first among the draenei and is the arch-nemesis (formerly best friend) of Kil'jaeden. He starts the following quests: * * * (Draenei, Bloodmyst Isle) See List of the Exodar NPCs and List of Bloodmyst Isle NPCs. Lore Twenty-five thousand years ago, the world of Argus was shaped into a paradise by the eredar race who called it home. But one day, the peace of the eredar was shattered. Sargeras, Destroyer of Worlds, had noticed the achievements of the eredar. Instead of destroying Argus, Sargeras appeared before the leaders of the eredar. Presenting himself as a benevolent entity, Sargeras offered to transform the eredar into an even more powerful race of beings, with the goal of unifying all the races of the universe. In return, they would serve Sargeras as his perfect spellcasters, spreading his universal union with every world they touched. Two of the eredar's triumvirate of leaders, Archimonde and Kil'jaeden, along with two-thirds of the eredar population, took the offer. Only one eredar leader realized the true horror of Sargeras' Burning Crusade: Velen. Velen, unlike Archimonde and Kil'jaeden, had the gift of Sight, and was granted a vision by the naaru K'ure of the truth of Sargeras' plot. The utopia Sargeras had promised was a lie, much to the horror of Velen. He at first saw himself at the head of a vast eredar force of the Light, spreading the gifts of their race to worlds beyond count, as Sargeras had said; the next moment, he saw the truth. Sargeras had no intention of unification. His vision was one of death, of razing entire worlds to bare rock and ashes. And the eredar were not to be the bringers of enlightenment with their new powers; they would be man'ari, twisted, malevolent shadows of their former selves devoted to the destruction of worlds for the glory of Sargeras' terrible Burning Crusade. Horrified, Velen desperately prayed for guidance. K'ure appeared before him, reassured Velen that his plight had been heard, and instructed him to gather up his followers and go to the highest mountain on Argus, during the longest day of the year. Velen and his followers barely escaped the newly created Burning Legion. From then on, Kil'jaeden vowed to hunt down Velen and his followers and slaughter them, even if it took a thousand years. The Legion chased the exiles, or "draenei" ("Exiled Ones") as they had come to be known, across the universe for thousands of years. Each time Kil'jaeden approached, the naaru granted new powers to Velen to preserve his race. After millennia of flight, Velen and his people were finally able to evade the Legion settled on a world they named Draenor. Draenor Velen and the draenei were taken from Argus via the crystal-ship that became known by the orcs as Oshu'gun - "Mountain of Spirits". As they settled onto their new homeworld, the draenei came into contact with the orcish clans, and began to trade with them; the relations with the orcs were cordial, but aloof and businesslike. While the draenei established themselves and built the city of Shattrath as their capital, Velen set up his own private refuge at the Temple of Karabor, on the eastern edge of the lands of the Shadowmoon Clan. While he was visiting the town of Telmor in Terokkar Forest, Velen met two orcs who would later shape the destiny of the Horde - Durotan, heir to the chieftainship of the Frostwolf Clan, and the future Orgrim Doomhammer; Telmor's captain of the guard, Velen's friend Restalaan, had rescued them from an ogre attack. Their dinner discussions spoke much of the orcish heritage and of the prophecy relating to the Doomhammer, which Orgrim would receive upon the death of his father - the prophecy of how one of non-Blackrock lineage would wield it and lead the orcs to salvation. The Corruption of the Orcs Over the eons after their escape from Argus, Kil'jaeden continued his search for Velen and his followers, but was frustrated when he found only traces of where they had been. His agents had managed to locate Draenor, and reported back to him both the conditions the draenei lived in...and the people that lived on their world. Realizing that he had found the tool of vengeance, Kil'jaeden appeared to the elder shaman Ner'zhul, and informed him that the draenei were plotting against them. Over a short span of time, the draenei came under increasing attack by the orcs, convinced that the draenei were their enemies. Concerned, Velen sent a courier to Ner'zhul, asking for a reason behind the attacks, and requesting a meeting in the shadow of Oshu'gun. The orcs, however, had killed the courier, and Ner'zhul did not wish to attend the meeting himself. Instead, he sent for Durotan, who captured Velen and his entourage. Velen tried to explain the true purpose of Oshu'gun to the Frostwolves but Durotan and his chief shaman, Drek'Thar, grew angered by what they perceived as blasphemy. Despite this, and despite the orders from Ner'zhul, Durotan released Velen and his fellows, taking their ata'mal crystals instead. Over time, attacks against the draenei became increasingly violent. The newly-established Horde, now directed by Ner'zhul's apprentice, Gul'dan - who had become Kil'jaeden's pupil in the art of the warlock - began to assault and destroy draenei settlements to appease their new master. Durotan led the assault on Telmor, utilizing one of the captured crystals to allow him to lower the draenei's defensive cover. Velen's refuge at the Temple of Karabor was also attacked and defiled by Gul'dan and his new warlocks, who renamed it the Black Temple and set it up as the headquarters of their Shadow Council. After the attacks increased - including the final assault that destroyed the city of Shattrath - Velen and some of his followers went into hiding in Zangarmarsh, and were never found by either the orcs or Kil'jaeden's minions... Escape from Outland Velen and his remaining followers remained hidden over the decades that passed since the draenei were massacred by the demonically-possessed Horde. During that period, great changes occurred in Draenor: The Dark Portal to the world of Azeroth was opened, and the orcs invaded - but after years of warfare, they were finally defeated. When Ner'zhul, in a mad bid for power, tried to open portals to other worlds for the Horde to conquer, the incredible energies tore Draenor apart. In order to prevent this catastrophe from affecting their world, the Alliance Expedition under the command of the archmage Khadgar sealed the Dark Portal, cutting off both the orcs already in Azeroth and those they were battling on the fields of Hellfire Peninsula. Almost two decades passed before anyone travelled through portals to Draenor - now known as Outland. The half-demon night elf Illidan Stormrage, accompanied by his naga and blood elf allies, sought refuge from Kil'jaeden after Illidan failed to destroy the Lich King, the imprisoned spirit of Ner'zhul who controlled the Scourge back in Azeroth. As the blood elves, under the command of Prince Kael'thas Sunstrider, took up residence in the naaru interdimensional fortress of Tempest Keep, Velen decided it was time to gather what remained of his people and find a new place to take refuge once more. Aided by the Broken Farseer Nobundo, who introduced shamanism to the draenei, Velen personally led a raid to capture the Exodar, one of Tempest Keep's satellite structures, and attempted to use it in order to escape Outland. The blood elves, realizing the draenei's intentions, sabotaged the transdimensional "engine" of the Exodar. As the draenei attempted to travel the dimensional planes, the reactor malfunctioned, hurtling the Exodar and its crew across the Twisting Nether until one month ago, where it appeared - coincidentally - in the world of Azeroth. The damaged Exodar screamed across the skies of northern Kalimdor, pods ejecting and spreading across a small island chain off the coast of Darkshore, before crashing on the west coast of what is now called Azuremyst Isle. After the dust settled and the draenei began to establish themselves in settlements built from the wreckage of the Exodar, Velen and his people set themselves to exploring their new homeworld. Word of a heroic Alliance of Light-wielding races had reached the Prophet and his people, and they set out to discover their potential new allies in their continued resistance to the Burning Crusade. Today Having survived the crash, Velen continues to lead the draenei people from his new refuge in the Vault of Lights, deep inside the largest intact portion of the crashed Exodar, which now serves as the draenei capital in Azeroth. Trivia When the Burning Crusade first came out Velen had the speech file of a normal male Draenei. However, upon the release of Patch 2.1.0, Velen was given his own voice file (see below for quotes). Strangly, Lor'themar Theron (The Blood Elven leader in Silvermoon) wasn't given a unique sound file along with Velen despite being a racial leader and still currently has the sound file of a normal male Blood Elf. Quotes Aggro An unwise decision. Aggro I foresaw this. Aggro How unfortunate...for you. Greeting We must unite against the Legion. Greeting Not all who wander are lost. Greeting Will you join our cause? Category:Draenei Category:Quest Givers Category:City Bosses Category:Lore Characters Category:City:The Exodar Category:Zone:Bloodmyst Isle Category:World:Argus